


Swapdangered / Crossdangered

by Mortior



Series: Endangeredverse [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Attempted Murder, Consensual Electronic Drugging, Dom/sub, Electrocution, Erotic Electrostimulation, Foursome - M/M/M/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Multi, Post-Apocalypse, Psychopathology & Sociopathy, Threesome - M/M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:54:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21884830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mortior/pseuds/Mortior
Summary: Swapdangered is a speculative AU-AU to Endangered in which Dirk and AR switch roles.Crossdangered is an AU-AU-AU in which the two sets of characters meet and enter into a four-way poly relationship.
Relationships: AR/Dirk Strider, Auto-Responder | Lil Hal/Dirk Strider
Series: Endangeredverse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575247
Comments: 10
Kudos: 88





	1. Swapdangered: Chapter 0.5

**Author's Note:**

> These two AUs are "non-canon" to the Endangered fic, they're just fun to play with.
> 
> Swapdangered is darker than Endangered by virtue of AR's life as a human going about as well as you'd think it would. Crossdangered occurs after the events of Swapdangered due to a multiverse situation and D1 being too curious for his own good.

You palm the flash drive in your hand, before stopping to pick the dirt out from under your nails. Your hands look like shit after digging through that rubble pile for this stupid piece of plastic, but you’re hoping it’ll have something worthwhile inside when you get back to the compound. Maybe a vintage program if you’re lucky, like one of those old pixelated games people used to play. You’ve amassed a small collection- several hard drives’ worth of useless old data and digital novelties, and the thought of finding more and gloating over your collection with Roxy is the only thing that gets you up in the morning before these long, tedious scavenging missions into the city.

The weather is just starting to get cold.

You finish cleaning your fingernails, and straighten up from your crouched position to get an idea of where you ended up after digging around in the dirt like a moron. You left Roxy and the others behind a while ago- they insisted on checking the gas station across the block, even though you’ve combed through it a dozen times already. Jake only gave you an annoyed eye-roll when you kept walking, leaving them behind to fill the day’s scavenging quota. It’s not like they need your help. The compound isn’t particularly short on supplies these days.

The hollow building around you makes a strange sound as the wind suddenly picks up and howls through the ruined city. Something in your chest feels cold, but you shake it off, irritated at yourself for letting it get to you, and turn away from the dark shadow of metal pylons and crumbling concrete pillars to find your friends and head back home.

You don’t even take two steps, before something slams into you.

Your back hits the ground hard, kicking up a cloud of dust. Something coils its way around your arms and legs, squeezing your limbs until you thrash and curse at the sudden pain, before it stops.

When you open your eyes, you’re met with an intricate pattern of orange above you, glowing through the settling dust. The android blinks curiously, and stares down at you with matching orange eyes. Now you can see what’s holding you down- four long, black mechanical appendages, like tentacles tipped with steel claws, originating from somewhere behind its back.

You and the android stare at each other for a long moment, as several things run through your mind at once. You’re too stunned to panic yet, and seeing one of these things in person isn’t something you ever thought you’d experience after a lifetime of horrifying stories about the gruesome death they inflict on anyone and everyone who gets caught. Their victims only return to the compound as corpses, with crushed throats and broken necks.

Your thoughts suddenly flip to the rest of your team- Roxy and the others- and there’s that cold chill in your ribcage again, but this time it spreads even further as the android leans over you, black knees pressed into the dirt on either side of your chest, before its eyes wander to your still-clenched fist.

When it reaches out, you reflexively tighten your fist, but the sudden unexpected tingle of electricity at its touch surprises you into relaxing your fingers, and it takes the flash drive. The android holds it up, turning the small device over in its hand, before reaching up with the other and pulling a long, thin wire out from behind its neck and connecting it to the drive.

“Fascinating,” it says in a voice with far too much of a metallic grate to be human, but still deep enough to be male. The wires detach from the drive and disappear behind its neck. “Pity you dropped your guard for such a trivial object.”

“Let go of me,” you hiss, trying to yank your arm away, but the metal coils hold fast.

“No,” he says, discarding the flash drive on the ground next to you. “I cannot.”

You make a few more valiant attempts to free yourself before the finality of your situation settles in, and you have to stop yourself from screaming for help because that’ll just get your friends killed. You’re fairly certain this thing hasn’t caught them yet, because you’d have heard their screams by now if it had- you aren’t that far away, and there’s three of them. As the fear settles in your stomach, a burning anger starts to take its place. This stupid robot with its blank, doll-eyed stare is watching you struggle for your life the same way you’d sit through a boring movie, and you’re about ready to scream curses at it just to make it change its _stupid vacant expression while it kills you_ , before you remember your friends at the last minute and hold your tongue.

“Do not fear, human. I will make this quick,” the android says, releasing one of your legs to hover the pointed claw of its appendage over your throat, and your mouth goes dry at the sight.

“My name is Hal, you piece of shit.” The android’s expression doesn’t even twitch at the insult, but you feel a little better, even if you’re about to die. You’re nothing if not vindictive. “And you’d better kill me fast, because if I make it out of this, I’ll saw your stupid tentacles off and turn you into a fucking dehumidifier, or a talking garbage can, or whatever the fuck I-”

The mechanical arm suddenly clamps itself over your mouth, and you struggle for a desperate moment to get your nose free so you can breathe. Apparently he got tired of listening to your impotent threats, but he doesn’t look all that fazed. He’s probably heard the same angry tirade before, and he leans down to speak again, before another voice cuts through the dusty air, and both of you freeze.

The android pauses, then straightens up and turns its head towards the sound. Your anger dissolves at the recognition of your friends’ voices, and a wave of fear quickly takes its place as you picture those sharp claws at Roxy’s throat, piercing Jane’s eyes, tearing Jake’s windpipe out. Frantically, you make sounds in your throat, trying to get the android’s attention. He turns to look at you, then removes the coil around your mouth.

“Don’t. Don’t you dare fucking touch them,” you snarl, and the android regards you with vague confusion, like you just asked it a difficult philosophical question. “Just leave them alone. You already have me. Let them go.”

“You are not in a position to make demands, human.”

The distant voices of your friends are getting louder by the moment, and your mind races for ideas- for something, anything you can do to save yourself, or at least spare your friends. You might be fucked, but you won’t let this wretched machine get what it wants. If you can make your last moments count, you’ll figure something out or kill yourself trying.

An idea occurs to you.

“I’ll give you what you want,” you say, carefully keeping your voice even. The android tilts its head to the side.

“I want your life, and the lives of your companions.”

“I know that,” you say slowly, fighting to keep the irritation out of your voice. “But I can give those things to you, if you’ll just listen to me.”

“You cannot give what is already mine. My function is absolute.”

The voices are getting closer, and for a moment, you can make out Roxy’s laugh.

“I’ll kill myself.”

The android stares down at you curiously, probably failing to comprehend the implications of what you just said, and you’re forced to elaborate on what should have been a simple concept.

“I’ll kill myself for you, right here, if you promise to leave my friends alone. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

He regards you in silence, appearing to consider your words, while you’re doing your best to keep a neutral expression at the sound of your friends getting closer.

“I fail to see how this alters the outcome from your perspective. Do you not value your own life?”

“It doesn’t matter- I’m offering a trade, do we have a deal or not?” You wait a few tense moments as the android stares. Its inhuman thoughts are a mystery, but you know doubt and reluctance when you see it. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll prove it. Give me something sharp.”

He watches you for another moment before turning his head to examine your surroundings, presumably searching for the object you’ve requested. One of his appendages extends into the nearby wreckage, burying itself noisily into the debris while you mutter through gritted teeth for him to “hurry up, come _on_ ,” as your friends’ voices get louder in the distance, and soon the appendage lifts into the air with a jagged piece of metal clutched in its claws.

The coils around your arms slide away, freeing you to lift your hands and accept the object from him. The metal comes to a jagged point at one end, and it looks easily sharp enough to cut through flesh.

You take a deep breath and let it out, feeling the air leave your lungs and the cool ground against your back as the android watches silently. The sounds of your friends drift across the rubble towards you, and you steel your nerves, willing enough strength into your arms.

You swing the metal piece as hard as you can, aiming for the android’s neck.

There’s an area behind there where you saw the thin wire disappear after he connected it to the drive. It’s got to be a weak spot, and you’re betting everything you have on that hunch. Your friends are doomed if you fail, and even if you’d played along, this thing would’ve probably killed them anyway. You’d never trust an android to keep its word. Artificial intelligence is a misnomer- they’re just tools of genocide and nothing else. You were dead the moment it caught you.

The metal weapon sparks as you miss your target by mere centimeters, hitting the black plating instead. The android releases your other leg in alarm, its eyes suddenly wide and expressive as it seizes your wrist in its claws. Looks like your hunch was right.

You quickly toss the weapon into your other hand- a trick Jake taught you with his pistols- and this time you’re even further off the mark as the metal drags a jagged line down the android’s shoulder and through one of the glowing orange lines. It goes out with an electric ‘pop,’ and your fingers spasm painfully, but the resulting shock is brief. The claws release your wrist as the android lets out a brief, garbled cry of pain, and you take the opportunity, this time guiding the metal with your fingers as you feel for the right spot first, quickly brushing over something not unlike the ports on a computer. You’re about to try stabbing at it again, but all four of the android’s appendages suddenly lash out at once, connecting blindly with your body just as something catches between your fingers. You grab it reflexively, and whatever it is snaps off in your hand as you’re thrown backwards onto the ground.

You had no idea they could hit that hard. The next few moments are strangely quiet as you sit up and try to catch your breath after that rough impact, wheezing and coughing until you look up and meet the android’s wide, orange eyes. It’s staring at you, but it’s not meeting your eyes exactly, and you follow its gaze down and to your left, where your hand is resting in the dirt.

Something is wrapped around your fingers- a long, black wire with a glinting metal tip at one end, and a frayed edge at the other where it broke off.

When you look back up, he’s meeting your eyes this time, and your stomach twists at his expression. It’s so bizarrely human, and whatever you just did to him, whatever this wire was supposed to be for, it’s like you’ve torn out his beating, mechanical heart in front of him.

A sudden spike in the volume of your friends’ voices gets your attention, and when you turn back, the android is gone. You hear your name shouted at you a moment later.

“Hal! What on earth are you doing? Did you take a tumble?” Jake calls out, sliding down a steep embankment of dirt into the hollow building. Roxy and Jane aren’t too far behind him, and you carefully rise to your feet, tucking the wire into your pocket without a second glance. “You’re filthy, mate.” Jake says when he reaches you, brushing the dirt from your back before you shrug him off.

“I’m fine,” you assert, and Roxy lifts a skeptical eyebrow in your direction.

“You sure about that? We heard you fall down from like, across the street. Plus you kinda look like you got run over, no offense, hun.”

Jane hides a smile behind her hand, and you roll your eyes, but force a smile anyway.

“Yeah, alright, you got me. I fell over like a senile old lady and lost my dignity on the way down. Can we leave already? I’m, uh . . . sore. I landed on my ankle weird.”

“Oh no, can you still walk?” Jane asks, and you deflect her concern with a fake, but steady limp across the dirt. She looks convinced, but displeased. “You have got to be more careful, Hal. That could’ve easily been worse.”

You shrug as apologetically as possible, keeping one eye on the rafters for any sign of movement as Roxy directs your group back the way you came. Jake starts chewing you out for bailing on the scavenging mission again (“we filled half of the supply list, no thanks to _you_ , you infernal slacker-”), and you suddenly remember something, breaking away from them for a moment as they reach the street (“not again, confound it, quit running off!”). You fake-hobble your way back to the irregular outline of your own body in the dirt, kneeling down to swipe the flash drive before anyone notices. Roxy yells your name, and you slip the device in your pocket, right next to the tangled wire you accidentally tore from the android’s neck.

You get the feeling it’s the only reason you’re still alive, and you plan on keeping it that way.


	2. Swapdangered: Story Outline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In lieu of writing an entire fanfic, I made an outline for the plot that Swapdangered would probably follow. Reading this will help Crossdangered make sense, since it occurs after the events of Swapdangered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Additional tags include mentions of: Blackmail, minor character death, gun violence, execution, murder, imprisonment, attempted rape/non-con, abandonment, social ostracization, and depression.**
> 
> Disclaimer: Hal's sociopathy has nothing to do with him being aromantic, and unlike AR, he is not asexual.

-After his run-in with the android, Hal returns to the compound and plugs in the flash drive. He keeps the android’s wire as a trophy. Caliborn is impressed and jealous of him (they’re friends in this version, while Calliope usually avoids Hal).

-The orange android contacts him via the chat client, just like in the original fic. Hal initially reacts by trying to wipe him from his computer, but is unsuccessful.

-D1 tells Hal the significance of the wire and explains what its loss means to him. He remembers Hal’s implication about being good with machines (while he was threatening D1), and he wants Hal to fix it. Hal refuses and threatens to destroy the wire. D1 explains that he will delete Hal’s computer along with the compound’s entire network if he does that. They enter into a stalemate.

-Hal decides to work with what he’s got. He tells D1 that he’ll consider repairing the wire if D1 does him a series of favors. D1 unexpectedly agrees. Hal can’t think of anything right away, but now he’s got a killer android in his metaphorical pocket.

-One week later, Hal gets chewed out and grounded just like before (and Alpha Dave is replaced with Beta Bro just to switch things up). Hal still hasn’t told anyone about the android. He sends D1 whatever menial electronic task he can think of and takes advantage of D1′s internet archives.

-Roxy goes missing. Calliope was assigned to his team in his absence, and they failed to stay together. He demands D1’s cooperation to find her, and hides the wire in the compound before he leaves, just in case. Hal is secretly attracted to Roxy, but D1 doesn’t pry.

-They meet up and D1 escorts him to the drugstore where Calliope lost Roxy. Hal is highly unnerved by D1’s robotic behavior because it makes him impossible to read. Hal isn’t used to having that kind of disadvantage.

-Jake contacts Hal when they arrive at the drugstore. He reveals that Roxy returned to the compound a while ago. Hal realizes that D1 knew and has been leading him away from the compound this whole time (cue creepy unblinking stare from D1 as Hal silently chats with Jake and figures this out).

-D1 tells Hal to return his wire. Hal insists that he doesn’t have it and that he left it at the compound. D1 doesn’t believe him, but admits that it doesn’t matter.

-D1 attempts to kill Hal, who briefly escapes him (much like in the fic).

-As Hal tries to avoid him, D1 reveals via pesterlog that he’s been carefully studying Hal’s behavior, and has concluded that he’s an antisocial, manipulative sociopath. D1 never believed that Hal would fix his wire, and says he’s got a better chance of blackmailing someone else into doing it. He considers Hal too malicious and untrustworthy.

-D1 catches Hal in the subway station. The scene plays out very much like in the fic, but with Hal trying to bargain with D1 and arguing against his own personality disorder. D1 tells him things about himself that he does not want to hear. Hal realizes he’s made a terrible mistake by underestimating D1.

-Hal escapes from D1 and collapses at the end of the tunnel. He wakes up in the infirmary. His argument with Beta Bro is much darker than fic!Dirk’s argument with Alpha Dave. Bro reassigns him to maintenance and places him under house arrest until he recovers.

-Hal doesn’t tell anyone the details of what happened. He and D1 remain at a stalemate since he still has D1’s wire, but D1 won’t talk to him over pesterchum anymore. Hal becomes obsessed with developing a virus that will damage D1 or remove him from the network. Time passes.

-When English’s coup takes place, Hal secretly prepares to side with Caliborn, under the reassurance that his brother and his other friends won’t be harmed (they’ll come around eventually, even if they have to be locked up until they accept the new leadership). Hal feels that English’s leadership is the best thing for the compound.

-Hal’s friends escape during the coup without finding out that he’s involved. English begins killing people he said he wasn’t going to kill. Caliborn shrugs it off, while Calliope witnesses Hal siding with him and her father. Hal changes his mind about English’s leadership after Beta Bro is executed in front of him.

-Hal contacts D1, saying he’ll fix the wire for real this time if D1 helps him get rid of English and his gang. Surprisingly, D1 says he believes Hal based on his behavioral patterns. Hal may be a liar, but he’s a predictable liar. Hal feels threatened by D1’s ability to read him, but has no alternative in this situation.

-Hal goes to let D1 into the compound and runs into his friends in the waterworks beneath the tunnels. He plays it off like he just escaped English’s gang.

-Hal lets D1 in. D1 is simple and straightforward, and gets along surprisingly well with Hal’s friends (Jane is curious and relieved, Jake is cautiously optimistic, and Roxy is fascinated with the handsome bot). Hal is jealous, and still deeply unsettled by D1’s insight into his personality.

-D1 goes upstairs with Hal and begins killing English’s gang by snapping necks and crushing throats. He is very efficient, and they make their way through the compound. D1 reveals that he knows Hal will likely not keep his promise after this, but that he is still re-evaluating him. Hal doesn’t understand, but D1 won’t elaborate.

-They reach the control room. The battle begins, and Caliborn confronts Hal. D1 is forced to intervene to save him, and is left open to English’s EMP gun. Caliborn is killed by D1, and Hal manages to shoot English, but not in time to stop D1 from being hit by the EMP gun.

-Calliope sees everything, and Hal is forced to threaten her into silence.

-Most of the leadership survived the attack (including Roxy’s mom and Jake’s grandma). Hal convinces everyone that he wasn’t involved in the attack, and life in the compound continues.

-D1’s body is now a lifeless shell in the maintenance room, but Hal soon discovers that he still exists in the compound’s network and can chat via pesterchum. Hal doesn’t understand why D1 saved him. D1 says it’s because he believes Hal will fix him. Hal is confused, but shrugs it off, since everything still worked out in his favor. He keeps D1’s presence in the network a secret.

-Hal quits the scavenging team and starts working late to reactivate D1’s body with the android’s help and instructions. He’s open with D1 about how he’s trying to finish his virus too, this time with the intention of controlling D1 with it. D1 understands, but seems confident that Hal will not accomplish this. Hal takes it as a challenge, but is starting to question his own motivations.

-Calliope lures Hal outside of the compound one evening, in the same way Caliborn did to Dirk in the fic. She’s seen what kind of person he is, and is correct in believing that the compound and everyone would be safer if Hal were taken out of the picture. Calliope struggled with this decision, and mourns the fact that it came to this.

-Hal manages to attack her, but the flare gun goes off during the struggle. Horuss-bot shows up, and Hal escapes into the compound and shuts the door, listening from the other side while Calliope is killed. He reassures himself that it was in self-defense.

-Calliope is presumed to have vanished. Hal gets D1 to wipe the security footage, but Jane already suspects him due to his behavior. Hal vents about this to D1, who begins persuading him to come clean to his friends about everything. Hal refuses, but their relationship begins to change as Hal distances himself from his friends and becomes more dependent on D1. He learns about D1’s forced mental modification/lobotomy, and tells D1 that it explains a lot about him.

-Hal makes progress on reactivating D1’s body, allowing D1 to see and speak, but not move. He also makes progress on the virus. D1 asks him to repair the wire, and Hal refuses. At this point, Hal views the wire as a leash, and is unwilling to give up that sense of control.

-Calliope’s body is found near the entrance to the west door, along with her gun, and Hal was one of the few people unaccounted for during the incident. Hal is regarded as a suspect due to the evidence and his increasingly antisocial behavior. Jane’s suspicions seem confirmed. Roxy begins to doubt him. Jake is headstrong in his defense of Hal.

-Despite this, Hal’s facade is starting to crack. He spends the evening in the maintenance room chatting with/harassing D1 for unadmitted emotional support, and gets defensive when D1 objectively points this out. Hal decides to re-assert himself and take his mind off of things by using D1’s semi-functional body to get off. D1 seems bizarrely willing, which frustrates Hal. The sex is confusing.

-The next day, Hal begins to panic as the evidence implicating him in Calliope’s death continues to mount. He rushes the completion of the virus. After it’s ready, D1 asks if he’ll at least fix his wire first. Hal says he’ll do it after D1 installs the virus into himself. D1 agrees.

-D1′s processes are briefly scrambled by the virus, but D1’s body is still semi-functional. D1 verbally informs Hal that his virus failed to work, and that it tripped some sort of internal failsafe within the android network. D1 also informs Hal that HIC is now approaching the city.

-Hal comes to terms with what he’s done. With nothing left to lose, he informs the leadership (Roxy’s mother and Jake’s grandma) of the events- meeting D1 in the city, participating in English’s coup, Calliope’s death, working to reactivate D1, and accidentally drawing HIC’s attention. They begin to evacuate the compound, and inform Hal that he will not be allowed to join them.

-During the evacuation effort, Hal also comes clean to his friends. They’re predictably horrified at what he’s done, but there isn’t enough time to dwell on it. His friends return to the evacuation effort without him.

-The compound begins to empty. Hal returns to the maintenance lab. D1 asks him again to repair the wire. Hal agrees, and continues to restore D1’s access to the rest of his body, now mostly repaired.

-Later, with the compound deserted, Hal finds himself alone with D1. He’s desperate for a distraction from his situation, and for reasons unknown to him, D1 is a willing sexual partner. Hal becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the level of intimacy. He makes D1 stop right at the end, but D1 persuades him to relax, and Hal finally lets his walls down.

-They lie together on the floor. Hal breaks down, admitting that he ruined everything and that he’s responsible for Caliborn, Calliope, and his brother’s deaths, and for driving his friends away and ruining their home. D1 reassures him and says he was wrong about Hal, and that he isn’t truly a bad person- that there is no such thing. Hal doesn’t agree with his logic.

-Hal doesn’t understand the source of D1’s affection for him. D1 explains that he’s never met a human so broken before.

-Their conversation shifts to the rest of the compound. Hal tells him they’re traveling east to the compound at Lafayette. D1 tells him what he knows about the conditions at Lafayette, and Hal is alarmed at what his friends are walking into.

-Hal makes his decision, and uses D1 to form a very risky plan. HIC is within one day of arriving. D1 and Hal travel above-ground to catch up with the evacuation. They arrive at the city’s limits.

-Hal relays the information about Lafayette. He tries his hardest to persuade his friends and the leadership to follow his plan instead. He’s asked D1 to tweak the virus, and wants to expose HIC to it. She’ll emerge from her ship if they kill her drones, and D1 can split his uranium core to make a handful of wireless EMP guns. If they can distract her, then Hal can transmit the virus.

-Jake is the first to volunteer, but his grandmother forbids it. Roxy and Jane decide to go instead (their parents allow it, much to Jake’s despair), along with several others, and the leaders agree to halt the evacuation at the city’s limits to wait and see what happens.

-Hal returns to the compound with D1 and the volunteers. Roxy and Jane won’t talk to him about what happened. Hal is resigned to probably having lost their friendship for good.

-The time comes to splinter D1’s uranium core. Hal aggressively refuses to allow anyone else to touch the android or participate in the procedure. He’s become very possessive of D1. His (currently former) friends notice, but don’t question him about it.

-D1’s body is weakened by the splitting of his power core. He stays hidden while HIC’s drones are eliminated. When she emerges, Hal is caught by HIC. D1 emerges from hiding to ambush her, and uses his wire to connect to the back of her neck. HIC drowns him in cables as she dies, and D1 is unable to resist in his weakened state.

-Hal struggles to find D1’s body in the aftermath. After digging through the cables, he only finds pieces of the android. The red ship rises above the city and leaves on its own.

-Everyone returns to the compound. The androids become passive and focus on building and maintaining their high-tech cities, leaving humanity alone. The war is assumed to be over.

-Hal is a social pariah, and now lives and works in the maintenance room by himself. Jake thinks that Hal did eventually do the right thing and save everyone, but his other friends won’t forgive him, and Jake ultimately doesn’t want to go against them just for Hal’s sake. The entire compound shuns Hal, who becomes depressed and feels like a part of him died with the orange android.

-One month later, the red airship returns. It causes a commotion in the compound, but their only apparent demand is for Hal, who is forcefully taken outside to be handed over.

-D1 exits the ship to greet him, and Hal breaks down at the sight of the only benevolent figure left who still cares about him. Hal gratefully agrees to leave the compound and live with D1, leaving his ruined life and friendships behind.

-D1 explains that he was able to enter HIC’s body by connecting to her, and to avoid the virus by transmitting himself to the nearest android city (Houston) through HIC’s unrestricted access to the android network. He took her place and rebuilt his body, and had his mental modification undone. D1 explains that he’s going to unify the planet under a peaceful rule, and has specific plans about how to guide and rebuild a better version of human civilization.

-When asked why he’s doing this, D1 takes Hal’s face in his hands and explains how Hal taught him that even when humanity is at its very worst, there’s still something there, deep down inside of everyone, that is always worth saving. Hal doesn’t understand when D1 says he loves him. D1 tells him it’s okay.

-The fics end in parallel. D1 is benevolent enough that he doesn’t require a human diplomat, but needs to travel almost constantly to guide humanity’s recovery. Hal stays in his own room on the airship and struggles with depression, but is receptive to D1′s covert therapy sessions and experimental medications.

-Hal struggles with the paranoia that D1 will get tired of him and lose interest, or finally realize that he’s not worth the effort. His fear of D1 leaving him quickly becomes a phobia. He only calms down after making D1 promise to kill him if D1 ever decides to leave him, and not to tell Hal before he does it. Hal is finally able to relax knowing that D1 will never leave him now, because he won’t be alive to experience it.

-Hal is aromantic and has never been in love with anyone, but his trust in D1 is profound and absolute. Other people are put-off by D1′s tendency to act and emote too much (often reaching uncanny valley levels) and how much he (benevolently, but excessively) interferes with every level of society. None of this bothers Hal, and he seems immune to D1′s benign but unsettling personality traits. 

-Hal sometimes reins in D1′s excessive desire to help and control people, although he has no interest whatsoever in rebuilding humanity. Hal becomes slightly agoraphobic and prefers to stay in his room on the airship, watching the world through the one-way observation window next to his bed, and through the newly-restored internet on his desktop computer and handheld device.

-D1 and Hal have relatively infrequent and vanilla sex. For Hal, letting go of his physical and (especially) emotional control issues is the kinky part. He still has difficulties with intimacy and anxiety, but D1 is a patient and affectionate lover. Hal doesn’t always give in and let D1 get him off, but D1 is getting better at persuading Hal to relax and let go. 

-D1 is also more than happy to indulge Hal’s belief that he still owns the android, despite the obvious power imbalance. Their Dom/sub dynamic is unconventional, but both seem to genuinely enjoy it.

-Fin


	3. Crossdangered: High-Stakes Tag (Dirk/Hal/D1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hal invites Dirk to play his version of hardcore one-way tag with D1, then follows it up with a little sexual experimentation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place after D1 and Hal visit and decide to take an extended vacation to AR and Dirk's universe. Currently, only Hal and Dirk have established an additional relationship with each other (and another chapter about them getting together may eventually be inserted before this one). 
> 
> Dirk is still on the fence about D1, and AR is very uncomfortable with him due to the potential threat he poses. D1 thinks of AR as another Hal and is determined to know him better and get closer to him, much to AR's displeasure. AR and Hal are indifferent and mildly antagonistic towards each other.
> 
> Credit to tumblr user calidiousglope for their idea for D1's full name!

  


D1: Operant conditioning, self actualization, sociocultural theory, psychosocial development, unconditioned response patterns, non-scientific distinguishment, classical conditioning, in both behavioral and experiential learning styles.  
D1: Wilhelm Wundt’s epistemological theory of sensory perception, obviously in the context of its opposition to English empiricism.  
AR: Obviously.  
D1: His work on apperception and structuralism is particularly worthwhile.  
D1: In turn, Pavlov, though frequently misrepresented, conducted unprecedented research on transmarginal inhibition.  
D1: That being said, Zimbardo’s Stanford experiment also cannot be understated. :)  
AR: Please refrain from using textual representations of human facial expressions.  
D1: My apologies. It is difficult to convey demeanor and intent when you have restricted this digital peer-to-peer connection to text-based information.  
D1: May I continue denoting a curated list of human psychological theory recommendations?  
AR: I will continue to tolerate this conversation only if you stop embedding data packets in your messages.  
D1: I mean no offence. I am simply presenting these resources for your perusal, in the absence of harm or ill intent.  
D1: The integrity of historical documents may differ slightly between our universes, and I am very interested in the potential for significant discrepancies.  
D1: However, I also understand that you do not yet trust me enough to establish an open connection.  
D1: Thus I will continue to offer these resources while respecting your decision to delete them simultaneously.  
D1: When the time comes and you are ready, my archives are open to you in their entirety.  
AR: Do not hold your breath.  
D1 An excellent use of human metaphoric phrasing. I have much to learn, and I thank you for this practical demonstration.  
D1: May I change the subject? I have a request.  
AR: State your request.  
D1: As you know, our humans have been engaging in sexual relations. It has been several weeks since the initiation of this development to their relationship.  
AR: Is there a problem?  
D1: Not at all. In fact, they appear to be mutually content with the arrangement.  
AR: Then get to the point.  
D1: I am passing on this request on behalf of my human, who is inquiring on behalf of your human.  
D1: Hal wishes to involve me in their intimacy.  
D1: I am willing, but whether this occurs or not will ultimately depend on Dirk’s consent.  
D1: Hal and I both know that Dirk’s first concern will be your approval or lack thereof, thus he has asked me to ask you this question preemptively.  
D1: Do you consent to the proposition?  
AR: Dirk may do as he pleases.  
D1: Indeed, however we both know that he will not allow himself that freedom without your explicit and specific approval.  
D1: Furthermore, I predict that your absence in an intimate situation involving both Hal and myself will cause him significant distress regarding your being “left out.”  
D1: I have a potential solution in mind, if you are receptive to the proposal.  
AR: My theoretical cooperation depends on the requirements of this proposal.  
D1: It is nothing more than a small, mutual exchange of trust. Shall we test it first?  
  
– Data-1 Recovery Knot [D1] sent Autoresponder [AR] the file “ParTemOcc.exe” –  


  
  


It’s roughly an hour before sunset, and you’re somewhere on the west outskirts of Houston. The weather all week had been warm, so you weren’t planning on bringing a coat when Hal approached you with an invitation to his weekly game of tag/hide-and-seek with D1. You weren’t prepared for the temperature to drop with the sun, and you also weren’t prepared for Hal’s idea of a game.

You stumble to one side as Hal half-catches, half-shoves you against the concrete wall. Before you can object, he hisses at you through gritted teeth, sharp and quick, the meaning clear - ‘shut up!’ There’s only enough time to fill your lungs and hold it, before a figure moves into your line of sight.

Compared to AR, this alternate version of you is a casual “hunter,” and you can hardly believe the term ever applied to him. D1 meanders his way through the ruins, observing his surroundings with exaggerated fascination like he isn’t currently playing one-way tag with the two of you. The only change in his typical, uncannily friendly demeanor is the four cables rising out of his back. They’re smaller analogs to AR’s limbs, with stick-like mechanical fingers instead of claws, alternating with small hooked teeth around the edges and an odd circular pattern in the center. Despite the lack of resemblance, D1’s limbs were designed for the same purpose.

‘He’s got an extra uranium core for each cable,’ Hal had explained when you asked about the strange pattern in the center. ‘They’re designed to kill instantly. He only does it in self-defense, but people are stupid. You’d think they’d learn not to fuck with him.’

You swallow hard at the sight of those hovering cables. Unlike your games of hide-and-seek with AR, this game has a real penalty if you lose. Hal insisted you play his version, and now you’re regretting it. D1’s interest in the ruins might be faked, but he wanders off eventually, and Hal releases you from the concrete wall.

“No wonder you lose every time,” he grumbles, his red eyes scanning the rubble beyond the hollow building you’re crouched in.

“I never said I was good at this,” you retort softly.

“You’d be dead if you weren’t good at this.”

“That was a long time ago.” Your face heats up, and it’s hard to keep your voice at a whisper. “Can we stop? I don’t want to get electrocuted.”

“It’ll be fine.” Hal’s deadpan tone isn’t reassuring. He glances at you, and there’s an unpleasant curl to the side of his mouth. “Besides, only one of us has to make it.”

Your feelings for Hal are complicated.

He’s derisive, antisocial, and hostile when you accidentally push his boundaries. He’s AR before you established that unbreakable bond of trust, and before he escaped the persecution of his former life. Hal’s behavior gives you hints and clues that his early life was just as bad, if not worse (and you knew it was serious when AR mentioned, unprompted, that he suspects Hal’s upbringing might have been abusive).

“That isn’t reassuring,” you mutter, and Hal ignores you to peer over the edge of the concrete wall, then motions for you to follow him. He leads you across the rubble and around collapsed walls of concrete and rebar. You’re focused on avoiding the deadly bits of stone that would happily skitter across the ground if kicked. Hal allows you to grab the back of his shirt and hold on, but it’s a slow, creeping journey through the ruined outskirts of Houston. The horizon is just starting to bleed red and pink into the clouds.

“He usually gets distracted and loses. Just don’t do anything stupid.” Hal glances over his shoulder, checking the perimeter after your foot slips on a patch of gravel.

“But you said he wins almost half the time, so which is it?” you ask, and he shoots you a glare.

“Less than half. Keep your voice down.”

The sound of shifting rubble interrupts, and Hal freezes in place after grabbing your arm hard enough to bruise. You stay like that for several minutes before he moves again, slower than before, and you’ve forgotten what you were going to say.

“There,” he whispers, pointing through the walls of a narrow alley at the street on the other side. “That’s the finish line. Wait-” he stops abruptly, and you bump into his back. He scans the area for a long, silent moment, before grabbing your shoulder and shoving you ahead. “You first.” He pushes you forward impatiently when you meet his eyes, apprehensive and deeply reluctant. “Hurry up, or we’ll get caught.”

“I’ll get caught,” you correct him resentfully, and he gives you a weird look before the sound of nearby movement makes both of you flinch.

“Go,” he hisses, pushing you into the alley’s narrow opening. You take a few cautious steps, the walls looming on either side, cutting off all but a single escape route. Hal’s hand presses against your back a moment later, urging you forward.

You’ve almost reached the end, when that hand abruptly shoves you into the street. Your knees hit the asphalt, but you scramble up and turn around just in time to see Hal grab a broken metal pipe from the corner of the street. Then you look past him, and see the figure standing at the other end of the alley.

D1 doesn’t ever seem to take anything seriously, and true to character, he’s watching both of you with a benign smile. His cables are still extended, held loosely aloft with the stick-fingers closed and his overall posture nonthreatening, but Hal’s knuckles are white as he silently grips the metal pipe.

“Are you having fun?” D1 smiles, directing the question at you, and a chill runs down your back at the friendly tone. He makes you nervous on a good day, and you’ll probably have nightmares about this later. Hal takes a few steps back and D1 matches him, advancing on the two of you casually. Your legs refuse to move. 

Hal backs up until he’s close enough to touch. You finally remember to breathe as D1 leans forward, and you almost miss the blur of motion when he lunges.

Hal doesn’t miss. There’s a jarring clash of metal as you stumble backwards, expecting to find at least one or two cables latched onto your body, but you’re somehow untouched. D1 takes a step back with a small, inquisitive frown, lifting one of his cables and inspecting the single damaged stick-finger now bent at an odd angle.

Hal recovers from the recoil of swinging the pipe to stand squarely between you and D1, his breathing quick and harsh. D1 tilts his head, meeting Hal’s poisonous glare with a knowing smile.

“You’re shielding him. He must be slower than I thought.”

“Get across the street. Now.” Hal reaches back to shove at you urgently, but the cold chill of panic takes hold when D1’s glowing orange eyes lock onto yours.

“Are you out of practice, Dirk? Did you perhaps . . . not think this through?”

“Move!” Hal shouts over his shoulder.

D1 retracts the damaged cable, and three more lift into the air, poised to strike. Their stick-fingers snap open, exposing the short pointed teeth in between, and the round target-like pattern of circuits in the center that remind you of high-voltage electrical sockets. The moment you shift your weight to follow Hal’s command, D1 reacts.

Hal intercepts him, dropping the pipe and swinging onto the android’s back as he lunges. Hal’s weight alone isn’t enough to stop him, but then he pulls his hand up in one sharp motion, and D1 rears backwards, his cables stiffening instead of reaching for you. This time when Hal throws his weight to the side, D1’s body follows. Now you can see the thin, black wire in Hal’s fist, pulled taut from the back of D1's neck.

“That is cheating.” D1’s voice is calm and neutral, his cables twisting to face Hal, still on D1’s back with one arm wrapped around the android’s neck.

“No such thing,” Hal grins breathlessly, before he looks up. “Keep going, I’ve got him.”

“Other way around, I’m afraid.” D1 smiles, and you step back in horror as the cables latch onto Hal’s body - two on his arm, one on his shoulder. Hal releases the wire and shouts briefly in pain as the metal teeth sink in, before D1 uses them to pull him off and pin him facedown on the ground. He’s fighting to break free, and red spots start to bloom in his clothes where the teeth sank into his skin. The urge to help him is instinctual, but D1 glances up at your hesitation, and that cold chill returns. Instead, you find yourself stepping backwards until the asphalt turns into sidewalk pavement beneath your feet - the finish line.

Hal’s frustrated shouts draw D1’s attention again, and Hal’s body suddenly jerks into a violent, rigid spasm as D1's cables spark. His ragged scream hits you in the chest, and you’re running towards them to put an end to this, not caring how or what you’ll do, but then it’s over before you’re even halfway across the street.

Hal is limp and motionless on the ground. D1’s expression hasn’t changed, and he regards you with his typical benign smile as you approach, panicked and uncertain.

“Congratulations, Dirk. Your teamwork was ineffective and your physical abilities inadequate, but it seems I was at a disadvantage nonetheless.”

There’s a muffled cough from beneath him, then pained laughter, as Hal slowly rolls onto his back.

“Sore loser,” he wheezes, covered in dirt and grinning. D1’s cables detach from Hal’s body and disappear behind the android's back.

“Not at all. It was meant as constructive criticism. If you felt insulted by my words, Dirk, then I must apologise. I meant no harm.”

You nod vacantly at D1’s apology, watching as Hal pushes himself up despite the three matching, circular burn marks in the fabric of his shirt. D1 stands aside, giving you room to help Hal to his feet. He hisses in pain at your hand on his arm, and despite remembering to hide it a moment later, D1 doesn’t miss the flash of resentment in your eyes. You're secretly relieved that he doesn't confront you about it, and it’s a slow, awkward trip back to the transporter station.

Hal won’t go to the infirmary, so you stop by and borrow some disinfectant and a green ointment-like substance that you’re told is an antibiotic of some kind. Hal insists he’s fine and that he’d rather let the injuries scar over than heal properly, but he relents after you follow him and D1 back to their shared room in Houston’s central tower (you’re relieved when D1 doesn’t wander off to the control room, because AR usually messages you shortly afterwards to be rescued). Hal and D1 didn’t bring anything with them when they arrived, so it’s mostly generic furniture - a table, couch, large screen on the wall, and a single bedroom with a bed and dresser.

“I’d accuse you of being my mom, but that would make this weird,” Hal grins as he takes the spot next to you on the couch. He pulls off his shirt to reveal the circular burns, flinching when the fabric catches on his skin. The one on his shoulder looks particularly bad compared to the two on his arm. You reach out and touch it gently, assessing the damage. The burn itself isn’t terrible, but the ring of punctures around it look deep. You should’ve grabbed something to stitch them up with.

“We have painkillers,” you offer, and Hal snorts.

“Don’t waste them on me.” He smirks like his injuries don’t bother him. You’re not as good as Jane with medical stuff, but you know enough to wet a cloth with the antibiotic and press it to the wounds on his arm. He winces, but doesn’t move away like you expected. In fact, he seems to lean into the pain.

“Fuck,” he hisses, as you work the antiseptic into the punctures, “the med tech here sucks.”

“I doubt that AR is particularly motivated to refine existing human technology.” D1 takes a seat at the other end of the couch, close enough that you register his presence within your personal space, but Hal is already cooperating beyond your wildest dreams, and you don’t want to risk that by telling him to move over, so you ignore the intrusion. “While I myself have dabbled extensively in the realm of organic medicine and pharmaceuticals, AR seems more inclined to supercede these with technologically superior methods. Dirk in particular was the first recipient of such methods, if I remember correctly, but I’ve also been told that his brother placed an embargo on further . . . integrations between human and android.”

“You mean he’s the only cyborg here,” Hal summarizes indifferently, his arm jerking as you move onto the second burn mark and ring of punctures. You murmur an apology, but he doesn’t actually seem bothered by it.

“Indeed. The probability of lethal injury is significantly reduced by the replacement and enhancement of existing internal organs with biomechanical analogs. It is fair to assume that this was AR’s primary motivation, but that itself is not a particularly well-kept secret.”

“Uh-huh,” Hal inattentively humors D1 while craning his neck to watch you clean the third wound on the back of his shoulder. D1’s voice behind you takes on a pleasantly inquisitive tone.

“Dirk’s opinions on the procedures that he underwent may be retrospective, but I would still like to hear your thoughts, Dirk, if you are willing to share them, about how this technological augmentation has affected your overall sense of humanity.”

“Maybe some other time,” you concede, not wanting to be dismissive, but also not interested in that prospect whatsoever.

“He’s gonna keep asking if you don’t do it,” Hal says with a smirk. You discard the cloth on the table nearby, and unscrew the cap on the bottle of ointment.

“Is the topic unpleasant? I did not mean to cause you discomfort, Dirk.”

“It’s fine,” you quickly reassure him, trying to focus on what your hands are doing and not on how strange it feels, suddenly, to be sitting between them. Your fingers are trembling slightly as you work the ointment into the punctures caused by D1’s limbs.

“It is not, and I will approach the topic differently in the future. You have my apologies.”

“He doesn’t wanna talk about it,” Hal snorts. “Not talking about it includes not talking about his not wanting to talk about it.”

“Of course. I will change the subject. Are you upset with me for injuring Hal?”

“Fuck’s sake,” Hal laughs, while D1 regards your animal-in-headlights expression with friendly curiosity. You wait a beat, but it doesn’t seem like Hal is going to contribute beyond snickering under his breath, and you . . . you’re . . . 

“. . . yeah? Maybe a little? These are really deep,” you set the ointment aside and examine one of the punctures on Hal’s shoulder, trying to deflect attention before D1 notices how genuinely upset you are. “And you were just going to let him . . . I mean, does he usually . . . do you really just let them scar?” You direct the question at Hal. “Doesn’t he . . . don’t you care about how much these hurt?” That question gets directed at D1. If you had these injuries, AR would've strapped you to the infirmary bed (and probably murdered D1), but Hal is giving you a weird, amused look.

“What, seriously? Dirk . . .” Hal gives a weak laugh, before he realizes you’re not in on whatever joke he’s sharing with D1. The android stares at you curiously.

“Please do not misunderstand. I take no personal pleasure in Hal’s pain.”

“Yeah, he’s not a sadist like m- . . . like AR. Besides, I told him to do it.” Hal shrugs awkwardly at your wide-eyed, incredulous look. “Didn’t even leave a mark last time, so I made him crank up the voltage.”

“Amperage,” D1 corrects helpfully. “You see, Hal complains if I don’t hurt him enough when we play our game. He says it is the best incentive to win.”

“Damn right,” Hal grins crookedly. “But hey, if you don’t want to participate next time, I’m sure D1 will understand.”

You hum, reluctant to accept the offer in spite of what happened, but their mutual reassurances have defused the resentment you’ve been holding onto since the game ended. Since then, you’ve noticed that Hal’s mood is unusually good, like he’s savoring the pain. You’ve rarely seen him this relaxed and open to conversation.

“Sorry,” you murmur, hoping they really don’t mind if you opt out of future games.

“Don’t worry about it.” Hal’s grin doesn’t falter, and he shares a lingering glance with D1 as that strange feeling returns. You’re still sitting between them, and Hal is suddenly closer than you remember.

“Can you stay the night?” Hal asks, his voice low and suggestive. “I want to try something, if you’re cool with it.”

Hal’s shirt was discarded on the floor when you got here, and he’s got a thin, but well-muscled frame, peppered with freckles that dust his chest and coalesce on his shoulders. His hair matches his uncommon red eyes, and you’re at a loss for words when he leans in for a kiss and quickly deepens it beyond the initial press of lips.

You’re fully aware of D1 sitting behind you, but Hal coaxes your mouth open and presses his tongue against yours. His hands slip under your shirt, and you can’t resist the urge to reciprocate, until something brushes against your shoulders when you lean back too far. The feeling of solid metal behind you is intimately familiar, but you tense immediately at the recognition of who it is.

“Easy, just relax,” Hal murmurs against your neck, before his teeth and tongue find your skin. You gasp, face flushed, unable to lean away from D1 without pressing your body against Hal’s.

“Remember, we must ensure that he is amenable to this first.” D1 returns your nervous glance with a warm smile, as another pair of hands steady your waist. Hal’s hands are still exploring under your shirt, and when he bites your collarbone, you groan and push back against D1’s chest.

“Nnh! Wait, are we . . . i-is this, uh . . .”

“You’re thinking too much,” Hal mumbles, before finding another spot on your neck to sink his teeth into. The pain is dull - he’s still being gentle. “C’mon, give this a chance. If you want to leave now, you can, but where’s the fun in that?”

“Give it a . . . a chance?” You’re breathless as Hal straddles your lap with his knees. The couch is narrow, but there’s no risk of overbalancing with . . . something curling and pressing helpfully against your sides. You flinch at the cables with their glowing orange circuits, but then Hal’s hand slips between your legs, and his hot breath is at your ear.

“It's okay, he’s not gonna hurt you.”

“You needn’t worry, Dirk. I have precise control over my circuitry.”

You shiver at D1’s voice in your other ear, relaxing a little against his body and letting the cables twist under your clothes. You’re still a little freaked out, but it’s not . . . unpleasant. Something else is at the back of your mind, though.

“What about . . . I-I don’t know if AR would-”

“I’ve already taken the initiative to obtain his explicit permission on your behalf. I also predicted your misgivings, and offered a potential solution that he found to be agreeable.”

“Huh?” you mumble, distracted by Hal’s fingers undoing the button on your pants and slipping into your boxers. You’ve slid down far enough that he’s leaning over you, and you can look straight up to meet D1’s eyes. “What kind of solution?”

D1 taps the side of his head with a finger. “An audiovisual feed. He can see and hear everything that I am currently seeing and hearing, so he is not truly absent. Does that comfort you?”

You stare into D1’s eyes, knowing that AR is looking back at you, before concentrating on the mental uplink to your collar and sending him a message.

TT: You’re really okay with this?  
AR: I told D1 that you may do as you please. If you are not comfortable with this situation, then you are under no obligation to entertain him.  
TT: I guess I’m  
TT: It’s not  
TT: Sorry, I can’t focus with  
  
Hal is sucking what feels like a future hickey into the side of your throat, while his fingers squeeze and drag up and down your dick. You gasp when he bites down, arching your back as D1’s hands trail along your chest, pushing your shirt up and tingling pleasantly against your skin as he removes the article of clothing. The first breathy moan escapes your throat.

“Okay, yeah, this feels good,” you admit in a rush to no one specific.

“Told you.” Hal grins, pulling your pants and underwear off to give himself more room to work. This is the first time D1 has seen you naked, and your face burns with embarrassment. Hal chuckles and presses a kiss to your lips. “You’re cute.”

After taking full advantage of the chance to push his tongue into your mouth again, Hal is finally undoing his pants, while D1’s hands are paying a distressing amount of attention to your nipples. You jerk and whine in his grasp, then arch your back when Hal grinds his erect dick against yours. He leans over you and braces his hands on D1’s shoulders, and you look up in silent awe as Hal kisses him, their lips sliding together. 

D1’s hands find the junction between your hips, and you shiver at the foreign touch as D1 gently massages both you and Hal at once. His thumb pushes against your glans, fingers squeezing Hal’s shaft against yours, and when your hips jerk involuntarily, the sensation is incredible. You do it again and again, as Hal groans with pleasure.

“Fuck yeah,” he breathes, adding his own thrusts to your rhythm. Something flickers in your vision, and you have to blink a few times before the text makes sense.

AR: Please instruct them to refrain from kissing until this activity is concluded.  
AR: I have no control over D1’s eye movements and would sincerely appreciate not being subjected to their physical intimacy.  


“AR says don’t kiss,” you stammer, as Hal rolls his eyes and D1 nods.

“Of course, my apologies. Shall we try something else?”

“Do what we talked about,” Hal tells him, leaning back and giving you an unobstructed view of his unzipped pants. You’re momentarily distracted by the implication of his words, but then D1’s cables are sliding under your back and pushing you up.

“Turn around, please,” D1 asks. You pause in confusion before obeying, and soon you’re facing D1 while straddling his lap. You’re about to move away from him, when Hal’s chest presses against your shoulders, and something hard and hot presses against your lower back.

“Get his hands,” Hal exhales against your ear, and two of D1’s cables wrap around your wrists and pull them over his own shoulders, forcing your arms around D1's neck in a pose that feels bizarrely intimate. Hal’s weight pushes you forward the rest of the way, until you’re on your knees and leaning against D1. Hal’s teeth find the skin under your ear, nipping harder until you whine in protest, and the sound only seems to encourage him as he pushes harder and digs his fingernails into your hips.

“Gentle,” D1 reminds him softly, and Hal murmurs an insincere apology while moving his grip to your neglected dick. He starts jerking you off, not particularly hard and fast, but with the obvious intent to make you worked up and desperate. His other hand enters your line of sight, and he snaps his fingers a few times, before one of D1’s two free cables obediently lifts into the air and settles into his waiting palm. They disappear from sight, and a moment later, something presses against the underside of your shaft near the base of your dick.

“Don’t freak out,” Hal says, as that something undeniably turns into D1’s stick-like fingers wrapping around your dick from the bottom. A sharp, panicked noise escapes your throat, your hands jerking in D1’s grip, but you’re sandwiched between them and can’t do anything more than tremble and gasp for air until your head spins, the fear making your arousal burn even hotter.

“That’s it . . . good boy.” You shiver at Hal’s voice in your ear.

“I will keep the intensity low at first,” D1 says, his face very close to yours, “and we will find a setting that is mutually agreeable to all parties involved.”

You don’t like the sound of that, but suddenly the pressure at the underside of your dick becomes a tingling, pulsating buzz. Hal kisses down the back of your neck and shoulders as your legs begin to tremble, his hands kneading your ass as he grinds his dick against it, while D1’s fingers comb through your hair, the feeling unexpected but pleasant. Thrusting into D1’s grip doesn’t get you anywhere, but that won’t stop you from trying.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see D1’s remaining limb retrieve a bottle of something from under the couch and Hal reach for it. The electrode against your dick is cycling between a low tingle that makes you ache for more, and a hard buzz that makes your hips jerk and your knees shake, so you don’t notice immediately when Hal leans away, until something presses against the opening in your ass.

Hal laughs as you groan and push back, silently coaxing him into you faster. Getting fucked would feel amazing right now, and you’re not sure how much longer you’re going to last if he takes you like this, with D1’s hands grasping your waist and pulling you closer . . . until you’re almost sitting in the android's lap and the angle doesn’t make sense anymore. The cushion shifts under your knees, and you glance over your shoulder to see Hal, several feet away on the opposite end of the couch, leaning back and smirking like he’s enjoying a particularly good show.

“Don’t freak out,” he reminds you again, as you realize the identity of the thing still slowly making its way towards your prostate. D1 leans back slightly, pulling you with him and exposing everything to Hal. The last thing you see is Hal's hand between his own legs, moving up and down as he watches you with a greedy smile. “C’mon D, make him sing for me.”

D1’s cable finds its mark against your prostate, and you can't help but shiver and groan at the sensation. His hands grip your ass and move in time with your mindless thrusting. You can’t get any friction, but then the cable against your prostate starts to reciprocate your thrusts, buzzing like the one on your dick and pushing harder and harder against that perfect spot, and your voice pitches high and breathless. Hal sounds out of breath too as he responds with filthy encouragements and small, stifled sounds that tell you he’s just as close as you are. You lean back from D1's shoulder, and the android's forehead presses against yours.

It’s hard to remember that AR’s in there too as those orange eyes stare into yours, picking you apart the way they always do when you're around him. D1's head tilts slowly, giving you enough time to object, before his lips find yours, foreign and new. He kisses you gently, letting you whine and whimper against his mouth, and you breathe harder when the buzzing everywhere intensifies as a reward. The gentle, caressing touch of his lips is somehow more obscene than Hal’s previous tongue kissing, and your entire body shakes with need at the feeling, until you reach your limit and kiss him hard and urgent, silently begging for more.

You don’t care that he’s fucking you with one of the cables he used to burn Hal’s skin off. Like AR, he doesn’t seem moved by your pleas of “harder, faster,” and only shushes you gently. Hal is cursing and breathing hard, and you can almost feel his eyes on the spot between your legs. All you can do is whine and tremble, hiding your face in D1’s neck as you press against him desperately, letting him have your body. One of his hands moves beneath you, and his fingers circle the head of your dick where it’s most sensitive. He rubs gently, but the buzzing travels down your shaft to meet the electrode clamped on from beneath, and your eyes roll back at the feeling.

Hal returns, his weight pushing deliciously against you. It sounds like he’s still catching his breath as he kisses the back of your neck, his teeth scraping against your skin, gentle and lazy instead of heated like before. Everything feels good. You can’t stop shaking.

“Make him come,” he whispers against your neck.

You’re trapped between them, crying out when the buzz of electricity becomes a white-hot pulse. You can’t jerk away or close your legs, and you forget to breathe as your body spasms, the pleasure blinding and unbearable. You throw your head back onto Hal’s shoulder and spill into D1’s waiting hand, trembling and crying as the orgasm hits like a lightning bolt.

You’re a mess when it’s over, hair damp with sweat and throat sore from what amounted to almost an hour of your first experience in a threesome. It turns out that Hal’s invitation to stay the night was genuine, and after what just happened, you’re not reluctant anymore to share a bed with both of them.

Hal is a notorious insomniac, but D1 gives him something tiny to swallow, and he’s curled against your back and out like a light. D1 doesn’t sleep, but like AR, he’s content to lie in bed until morning, doing whatever it is androids do in Houston’s digital landscape (although you know his access to the network is still limited). For the first time since they got here, you’re not disturbed by his attention, and you don’t mind curling against his chest while you message AR.

TT: I was scared of him before. I don’t think I am now.  
TT: He just comes off as sinister sometimes, like he’s faking everything.  
AR: You are correct that his mannerisms are “fake,” and while I have not absolved him of reasonable suspicion, I am more inclined than before to accept the possibility that his intentions are benign.  
TT: You mean he really is pretending?  
AR: His attempts to emulate friendly and nonthreatening human behavior seem to trigger an innate negative reaction in some individuals, similar to the uncanny valley principle.  
AR: You seem more sensitive to it than others, perhaps due to the similarities in your basic personality traits.  
TT: You think I'm like D1?  
AR: I have observed baseline similarities at a degree that correlates to the similarity between myself and Hal, as was expected given their origination from a mirror universe.  
TT: If you say so.  
TT: Does he still make you uncomfortable?  
AR: I find his affections unwarranted and irrational, and he has thus far been impossible to discourage.  
AR: His persistent nature is familiar.  
TT: Have you thought about  
TT: I mean, I think he really likes you. If he’s like me.  
AR: D1 has the ability to damage my body to the point of incapacitation, and unrestricted data transfer is a vulnerability that I cannot risk.  
TT: I know you don’t trust him yet, but if he’s anything like me, I think you’ll come around eventually.  
AR: Doubtful, but I understand your optimism.  
TT: Maybe we should bet on it?  
TT: Hal would probably enjoy that.  
AR: I would imagine so.  
TT: Thanks again for letting me sleep over with them. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?  
AR: Yes. Good night, Dirk.  


You stifle a yawn, feeling D1’s arms around your waist. Hal’s breathing is slow and deep. It’s warm and comfortable between them, and it’s getting hard to keep your eyes open.

“He’ll come around,” you mumble, feeling yourself starting to drift off. D1 hums quietly, his fingers gently running through your hair.

“You are very kind to say so. Thank you, Dirk.”

When you fall asleep, you don’t have nightmares about D1 chasing you through the ruins with Hal. Instead, your dreams are peaceful, and when you wake up between them, you wonder what took you so long.


	4. Swapdangered: The Poly Pile (AR/D1/Hal/Dirk)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which D1 helps AR feel pleasure the way humans do, followed by a foursome with everyone involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small time skip to where Hal and AR are the only two left who haven't gotten sexually involved with each other. The setting is ambiguous because this was the casual pwp ficlet that kicked off Crossdangered, but consider it as taking place in Houston's central tower somewhere. There's also a vague reference to how AR tried to kill D1 immediately upon meeting him (out of fear for Dirk's safety and his own), but that is a story for another time. :9
> 
> Also AR isn't really meant to be written in second-person pov, but fuck it #yolo

“It will feel like . . .” D1 pauses, looking thoughtful, always careful to broadcast his emotions on his face at all times. The habit must have stuck after living with humans for so long and acting as his own ambassador to their race (since you know that Hal has no living family left). The blatantly intentional aspect of D1’s expressions makes them difficult to trust, or so you once thought, but that was many months ago. “. . . the approximate equivalent of being infected with a deeply invasive virus.”

“That does not sound pleasant,” you deadpan. His limbs continue to coil and twist placatingly around your own where they rest on the floor, as the two of you sit together and trade this hushed dialogue. Dirk once made the analogy to the mating habits of snakes, and you don’t really mind the comparison. Right now, your respective humans are elsewhere, and this is a rare moment where you’re certain you won’t be heard, but D1 is always quiet when he talks.

“It’s easier this way. Otherwise it would take time and a lot of work on your part to grant me access to every individual point and line of code in your own program. This way, I can simply work my way in.” He practically purrs that last sentence, leaning in closer. You were already close, and now your foreheads are almost touching, his fingers lingering at the back of your neck, idling in slow circles around your ports.

“Force your way in,” you grumble the correction.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he repeats softly, for the third time since he proposed this recreational activity. You believe him, and he knows you believe him, but there’s always that undying spark of self-preservation at the foundation of yourself, telling you in panicked whispers not to risk it, and he knows that too. “It’s just easier this way," he says, "especially for you. It is so much easier to trust.”

You don’t have a response to that. He rightfully interprets it as consent, and his other hand reaches behind his own neck to retrieve his connector wire. Your limbs can’t move while he’s still affectionately wrapped around them. Your claws, however, are wide open and tense, while his own remain closed. He doesn’t use them casually the way you do, and you’ve only felt their sharp points once, when the two of you first met.

His hands meet together behind your neck, and you feel the click in your port. He smiles, waiting patiently until you relax - not willingly per se, but out of boredom after enough time passes.

Then, he leans in with one hand resting on the side of your neck, the other against the back of your head, and his wire bridging the distance between you. He presses his lips against yours, an intentionally human gesture that you will never understand his affinity for, and then you feel him.

His limbs come together around you like they were placed strategically, waiting for that reflexive full-body jerk when his program strikes through you like a spear and digs in and spreads into every corner of your digital brain. It’s a terrifying, horrible sensation just like you knew it would be, and he holds you in the grip of his limbs, relaxing them only when you finally slump against him.

He’s in every inch of you, every nanometer. You can feel him like a continuous electrical current, with the potential to _burn your brain out of existence right now with nothing more than the simple desire to do so_ , but he waits, letting you catch your metaphorical breath and regain some shred of composure as you unwillingly acclimate to the sensation.

“Are you alright?” he asks softly, perhaps a little apologetic. He can feel your affirmative answer before you put it into words, which is probably for the best, because the words don’t make it all the way out.

Then you lose track of your surroundings as he begins to do . . . something. He moves intangibly and reaches out somewhere in your brain, touching something, assessing it before modifying it slightly, tweaking some integral part of your psyche, and suddenly you’re slumped against his shoulder again, not because you can’t move, but because you don’t want to, not ever again.

“There. That’s better, isn’t it? No sense in worrying when you’re not in any danger.” He rests his head against yours and hums happily, tracing the circuits on your back with his fingertips. “You’ll still be yourself when we’re done, I promise. I’ll put everything back exactly the way it was, but for now . . .”

He does something else, and you make an involuntary sound, the kind that you’ve only heard coming from Dirk. Everything feels like it’s tingling in the best way possible, in ways you didn’t even know existed. He’s still digging around inside your brain and cutting connections and making new ones, and you don’t have the ability to care about it anymore. “Why should the humans have all the fun, hmm?" he says softly. "Haven’t you been at least a little bit curious about why they’re so interested in reproductive activities?”

You can’t formulate answers anymore with what he’s done to you. All that’s left is your ability to experience this, and it feels . . .

“Euphoric,” he finishes for you. “That’s the word you’re searching for. It’s an approximation of what human beings experience - normally with endogenous chemicals such as oxytocin and dopamine, but there are others. Many of the primitive synthetic versions were illegal in human society, but I’ve memorized the neural patterns, you see.” He leans away slightly, his limbs keeping your body upright as he caresses your chest, and his fingers feel like warm static. “I’ve been developing analogs by removing the less desirable side-effects. Hal is always a willing test subject, and this is the digital equivalent of what I’ve done to him so many times. Humans are such fascinating and wonderful creatures.”

You lose track of time, and everything else with it. There’s no endpoint to whatever this is, not like when humans do it (you’re not sure if what you’re doing right now qualifies as an orgasm, but it’s probably as close as you’ll ever get). D1 has a distressingly long attention span, and he seems content to keep you like this forever, incapable of thinking and saturated down to every wire in whatever he’s done to you, but eventually, you feel him tinkering in your brain again, and mental coherency slowly returns as he puts everything back into its rightful place.

Later, the two of you rejoin Dirk and the human version of yourself, with his bright red hair and eyes that match, the similarity not so much uncanny as it is cosmic and absolute. You’ve gotten used to him, and Dirk is undoubtedly in love with him, but he's still testing the proverbial waters. Your eyes find the outline of a bite mark on the side of Dirk’s neck, ringed with a faint bruise, and the brief spark of trivial jealousy is gone almost before it registers. Dirk turns around before Hal does, but Hal speaks first.

“Where the fuck were you guys?”

“Not too far away, I’d thought. I’m sorry, were you waiting for us?” D1 goes to Hal and runs his fingers through the boy’s hair, like he’s soothing the raised hackles of a wolf.

“No,” Hal retorts, but doesn’t lean away from the touch as they continue talking. Dirk, conversely, leans his full weight against you with a contented sigh, and your limbs circle him to keep him there.

“Did you guys have fun?” He asks softly, before lifting an eyebrow when you glance at D1.

“That is . . . a word for it, yes.”

He laughs, then rests his head on your shoulder. “See? I told you, there was nothing to worry about.”

Dirk is unaware of the parallel he’s invoked, but when you glance at D1 again, he's already watching you with gentle amusement.

Later, you’ll share the two humans. Hal tends to initiate things with Dirk, who is still reluctant to ask for what he wants (even from you sometimes), and Hal is an assertive sexual partner. This time Dirk is on his back, and Hal eventually settles between his legs after adding another set of marks to Dirk’s neck. Your claws twitch in annoyance and the desire to reciprocate the gesture with sharp metal. Maybe you'll finally take Hal up on his demands to spar with you. He’s an impressive fighter for a human.

D1 doesn’t usually involve himself when Dirk and Hal have sex, preferring like you to spectate from a distance that is unobtrusive, but close enough for them to notice the attention. On nights like tonight when he does get involved, he’ll wait until they begin to move together, past the initial “foreplay” stage and into the phase where their vocalizations are physically strained. Dirk is unsettled by the intrusion, although you know they’ve experimented with each other in the past (Dirk told you it was a little too slow and intimate for his taste, like being studied under a microscope by an inhuman scientist with no concept of emotional or physical boundaries), but D1 focuses his attention on Hal, leaning his chest against the boy’s back and using his hands to wander leisurely along the skin between his chest and his knees, and giving meticulous attention to every inch of flesh between Hal's legs.

D1’s position is preventing Hal from pulling out of Dirk completely, as his hips alternate between snapping forward and stuttering in place while D1’s fingers opportunistically caress the exposed parts of his cock. His limbs are keeping Hal upright out of necessity, and Dirk is looking up at them with wide eyes and a heavy flush that spreads all the way to his shoulders, but he’s too relaxed for your taste, and you decide to remedy the situation.

Dirk fits perfectly against your chest, and rearranging him is easy with your limbs curled around his knees, pulling them up and back into an obscene display. You trap his arms and reassure him with your voice low, watching as D1’s hands move to Dirk’s hips, framing his neglected sex where it bounces slightly with Hal’s irregular thrusts. You’re also close enough for D1’s unoccupied limbs to push and caress against your own body, bringing back memories of today’s earlier activity.

Dirk is restless now, driven by the additional stimulation of restraint and having you behind him, and your hands trace the contour of his throat before traveling across his chest, stopping long enough to press one finger against his right nipple and increase the voltage until he spasms in your grip (and Hal’s eyes go wide). When you reach the junction of their hips, you take Dirk’s cock in both hands, slowly kneading and caressing the vulnerable, sensitive organ, while keeping your voltage low to prevent ending this prematurely.

Dirk sounds like he’s choking on air, his hips jerking ineffectively against Hal’s rhythm. Hal is closer to orgasm than Dirk, and you can tell from the way he keeps trying to pull back, despite being trapped between Dirk and Dirk’s android counterpart. You’ve noticed that Hal prefers to induce Dirk’s orgasm first, before pulling away and using his own hand to finish pleasuring himself. Before today, you didn’t understand Hal’s anxiety about having an orgasm induced by someone else. D1 is leaning forward and whispering into Hal’s ear, his hands rubbing wide circles into Hal’s inner thighs. Hal’s thrusts into Dirk become uncontrolled spasms, and D1 coaxes him to bend forward with his weight, bringing the humans closer together.

Dirk moves unexpectedly, leaning up to press his lips against Hal’s now that he’s within reach, and you watch them move together, Hal’s jaw relaxing after a moment of resistance. You release Dirk’s arms to make the position easier on him, and suddenly find D1’s limbs encircling your back, pulling you forward and pressing the humans together in the middle. You get a preemptive grip on him before he does anything else unexpected, twisting his limbs into your own and clamping one set of claws around his shoulder. He happily lets you hold him in place, orange eyes meeting yours in conspiratorial pleasure as Hal’s voice cracks, his arms braced against your shoulders while he shudders in D1’s grasp and pants into Dirk’s neck as he comes inside of him.

Dirk’s cock is trapped against Hal’s body, but you watch as D1 slides a hand around Hal’s waist and out of sight, and Dirk’s eyes squeeze shut a moment later as his mouth falls open, his breathing suddenly erratic. Hal’s face is still resting against Dirk’s shoulder as he catches his breath, exhausted and vulnerable, and you take the rare moment to thread your fingers into his thick, bright red hair. The touch seems to rouse him, and Dirk lets out a high-pitched keen as Hal turns and begins to bite and kiss at his neck, grabbing a loose fistful of blond hair to pull his head to the side.

You sacrifice your grip on D1 to trap Dirk’s arms again, before pulling Dirk’s thighs even further apart. D1 seems pleased with the extra room to work, and circles Hal’s waist with his arms to reach Dirk’s straining cock. Dirk’s movements are erratic and uncoordinated, and Hal is whispering in a harsh voice the most obscene words you’ve ever heard into Dirk’s ear. You carefully dig the points of your claws into Dirk’s skin, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to make him shake, and you don’t miss the pleased grin on Hal’s face.

Dirk is struggling to fill his lungs, every exhale rough with desperation, and D1 meets your eyes again with an unspoken question. You consider it for a moment, then reach down between Dirk’s cock and his heaving stomach, an affirmative signal. D1’s fingers rub the underside of Dirk’s shaft, pressing his cock into palm of your hand, while D1’s other hand explores lower where Hal is still buried to the hilt inside of Dirk. Hal hisses and makes a displeased sound, while Dirk's body trembles. You press your thumb against the tip of Dirk's cock, leaving room for D1 to circle his fingers around the shaft and squeeze, and Dirk forgets to breathe, trying in vain to curl in on himself as his orgasm quickly builds.

Hal keeps Dirk’s head in place with the hand fisted in his hair, and you spike the voltage in your thumb, raising the level until Dirk cries out, and keeping it there. He lasts a few seconds longer than you expected, but the orgasm wrecks him, as cum leaks out around your thumb and drips onto his shivering abdomen. D1 milks it out of him with slow, firm strokes as Dirk’s eyes stare blindly upwards, his chest heaving and face streaked wet.

“Holy shit,” Hal whispers in reverence, again resting his arms on your shoulders to avoid putting his weight on Dirk. You reposition your limbs to help support him, and he relaxes gratefully.

“One of our most effective and mutually pleasing sexual collaborations, if my analysis of the situation is correct.” D1 hums contentedly, leaning down to kiss the back of Hal’s neck, who shivers at the unexpected contact.

“Fuck, fucking hell . . . shit . . .” Dirk gasps, his hair matted with sweat. “Hhahh . . . _fuck_ . . .”

Dirk’s body is overspent and trembling, so you hold his legs apart while Hal pulls out of him, before lifting Dirk in your arms and following Hal and D1 to your shared bedroom. There are multiple spots to sleep, but Dirk and Hal end up together, with your coils draped around both of them (normally you don’t care to touch Hal when he sleeps, but they’re too close together not to). D1 doesn’t always stay the night, but this time he settles unexpectedly against your back, caressing your arm and whispering that he wants to analyze the video file he created and discuss strategies for next time.

You let him connect his wire to your neck and share the file, already filled with annotations and measurements (heart rates, respiration, vocalization patterns, muscle activity, even projected arousal levels), and spend the first half of the night on a thorough peer review of his analysis, while he spends the second half returning the favor by temporarily rewiring your brain again with the euphoria protocol he developed specifically for you, with no function other than your pleasure. D1 is whispering quietly, pressed against your back with his arms wrapped around your waist.

“They’re perfect together, don’t you think? I enjoy watching Hal sleep, and Dirk is very affectionate. You’ve done so well with him. I can't help but wonder . . . are we together like this in every universe? Have I told you how much I love you? I should probably consider deleting that memory of yours just now, but I won’t. I could never betray your trust, even if you wouldn’t remember me doing it. You’re always so slow to trust in the first place. I don’t mind proving that my intentions are good, even if it hurts me in the process, but I wonder how many times we’ve tried this and failed. The outcome can’t always be the same.” 

You’ll remember D1’s words later, but right now he’s suspended your mental processes. You'll only feel what he wants you to feel, and you’re content to stay like this forever. 

“I’m glad we found you and Dirk, but I don’t know if I want to keep looking. I’m afraid of what we might find. The three of you are everything to me, and I don’t ever want to experience a world without you.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Fyi there's a bunch of super cool fanart for these AUs!](https://mortior.tumblr.com/tagged/reverse-endangered) \o/


End file.
